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ALA Midwinter

Love. Life. Read.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Told completely in correspondence, Regarding the Fountain is the tale of how something as simple as a drinking fountain can quickly catapult into something extreme. The principle of Dry Creek Middle School tries to commission Florence Waters to give an estimate for a new drinking fountain—a simple one. What is unleashed is a fury of imaginative requests from an aquarium to chocolate milk shakes request by Sam N.’s fifth grade class (since their class is the one next to the drinking fountain).

Included in the tale of the fountain is the mystery surrounding the town’s history and the creek that has dried up prompting the town to change its name from Spring Creek to Dry Creek. Told, or should I say written, from the viewpoint of the principle, the administrative assistant, Florence Waters, Sam N. and his fifth grade class, the school board president, the head of the water company and more is the outrageous tale and mystery regarding the fountain and the town of Dry Creek itself.

This is a fun, fast read. It seemed a bit outrageous at times but it is completely the point. To a young reader, I can understand why they would enjoy it because who, after all, has not let their imagination run wild when thinking about reinventing something as “ordinary” as a drinking fountain. As Kerry pointed out to me, make sure you pay close attention to the all the names. They have something in common.